At GoGrid, we firmly believe that having a rich and developing Partner ecosystem is critical to not only our success but also our customers. GoGrid Partners bring an incredible amount of value-added tools and services in the form of what we call PGSIs (Partner GoGrid Server Images) and we work with them closely to ensure that our joint offerings provide as much value as possible. If you haven’t explored the GoGrid Exchange, I encourage you to do so as we have a variety of tailored solutions to meet a wide variety of needs.

Categories for PGSIs currently include: Software & Applications, Development & Testing, Disaster Recovery & Backup, Cloud Management, Security, Monitoring & Reporting and more. Also, we are actively looking for new technology-enablers in the form of Partners so if you have a SaaS or PaaS offering that you would like to potentially be included in the GoGrid Exchange, simply fill out this form and we will start you on your way. All of our current partners are listed here.

Have you used a Partner GSI? If so, every Partner Server Image has a rating and comments section so that you can Review any of the images that you use. We hope that you will provide feedback as it helps us and our partners better evaluate the usefulness of their images on GoGrid.

NEW Partner Images

The following images are NEW to the GoGrid Exchange.

• SNORT IDS/IPS  - Snort® is an open source network intrusion prevention and detection system (IDS/IPS) developed by Sourcefire. There is an additional charge of $29/month per instance of this deployed. It gets the user access to updated rules via Sourcefire. [Snort on GoGrid Exchange]
• MediaWiki - MediaWiki is a wiki package originally written for Wikipedia. It is now used by several other projects of the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation and by many other wikis. MediaWiki was designed to be run on a large server farm for a website that gets millions of hits per day. [MediaWiki via BitNami on GoGrid Exchange]
• JasperServer – JasperServer Community Edition, the open source report server, built by the developers of JasperReports, the leading open source reporting library. It provides a Web and Web services based environment for reporting and dashboards. [JasperServer via BitNami on GoGrid Exchange]
• Spree – The Most Powerful and Flexible E-Commerce Platform for the Ruby Enterprise. [Spree via BitNami on GoGrid Exchange]
• Coppermine – Coppermine is a multi-purpose, full-featured web picture gallery script written in PHP using GD or ImageMagick as image library with a MySQL backend. [Coppermine via BitNami on GoGrid Exchange]
• Rubystack - Ruby on Rails is a full-stack MVC framework for database-backed web applications that is optimized for programmer happiness and sustainable productivity. It lets you write beautiful code by favoring convention over configuration. [Rubystack via BitNami on GoGrid Exchange]
• LAPPstack – It includes ready-to-run versions of Apache, PostgreSQL, PHP and phpPgAdmin and required dependencies [LAPPstack via BitNami on GoGrid Exchange]

UPDATED Partner Images

We have also UPDATED the following images:

• OpenVPN – OpenVPN Access Server is a full featured SSL VPN software solution that accommodates a wide range of configurations, including secure and granular remote access to your internal network and/ or your private cloud network resources and applications with fine-grained access control. [OpenVPN on GoGrid Exchange]
• Appistry CloudIQ – Appistry CloudIQ Platform is a comprehensive platform for delivering highly scalable, extremely reliable, and easily managed applications on private, public and hybrid clouds. [Appistry CloudIQ on GoGrid Exchange]
• SugarCRM – SugarCRM is a flexible customer relationship management solution for companies of all sizes. SugarCRM can easily be customized and integrated with other software to allow companies to build and maintain a more flexible system. [SugarCRM via BitNami on GoGrid Exchange]
• Joomla – Joomla! is an open source Content Management System with a growing and active community of more than 400,000 users. Joomla! creates multiple format sites from simple websites to complex corporate applications and allows users to manage each aspect of their website through a simple, browser-based interface. [Joomla via BitNami on GoGrid Exchange]
• DokuWiki – DokuWiki is a standards compliant, simple to use wiki mainly aimed at creating documentation of any kind. It is targeted at developer teams, workgroups, and small companies. [DokuWiki via BitNami on GoGrid Exchange]
• LAMPstack – It includes ready-to-run versions of Apache, MySQL, PHP and phpMyAdmin and required dependencies [LAMPstack via BitNami on GoGrid Exchange]
• Drupal – Drupal is a content management platform that allows an individual or community of users to easily publish, manage, and organize a wide variety of content on a website. [Drupal via BitNami on GoGrid Exchange]
• WordPress – WordPress is a state-of-the-art publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability. WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time. [WordPress via BitNami on GoGrid Exchange]

What other images would you find useful on the GoGrid Exchange? Leave a comment with some company or service names and we can reach out to them.

Today, MuleSoft, who specializes in enterprise-class software, and GoGrid announced the availability of the industry’s first commercially-supported cloud-based Apache Tomcat offering known as Cloudcat as a GoGrid Partner Server Image (GSI). The Partner GSI by MuleSoft contains their product Cloudcat which allows developers and QA personnel to build and test web applications easily in the cloud using a pre-installed & configured Apache Tomcat application server. Having Cloudcat contained within a Partner GSI is important to GoGrid users because it eliminates the need of having to do a manual Tomcat download, installation or configuration. Apache Tomcat is the world’s most widely used application server, with over 1 million downloads per month and over 70% penetration in the enterprise datacenter.

More information about MuleSoft and Cloudcat can be found within the GoGrid Exchange on the MuleSoft Partner Page. There are currently two MuleSoft/Cloudcat images available on GoGrid:

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 (32-bit)
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 (64-bit)

These images have a monthly (recurring) cost of $29/server (in addition to standard GoGrid RAM and Bandwidth charges).

The following press release came out today which includes more information about Cloudcat and the MuleSoft/GoGrid partnership.

MuleSoft Partners With GoGrid to Offer Cloudcat — Enterprise Tomcat in the Cloud

Leading Open Source Enterprise Application Server Available as a Cloud Service From GoGrid

SAN FRANCISCO, CA–(Marketwire – February 9, 2010) – MuleSoft, the Web Middleware Company, today announced a partnership with GoGrid, a leading Cloud Infrastructure Hosting provider, to offer MuleSoft Cloudcat, the industry’s first commercially supported cloud-based Apache Tomcat offering, now available as a service from GoGrid. The combination of GoGrid’s supported infrastructure services, the ubiquity of Apache Tomcat, and the commercial support of Tomcat from MuleSoft, provides the simplest way for enterprises to leverage the benefits of cloud computing and open source software.

“Cloud computing has rapidly moved to the mainstream, and we are increasingly seeing demand from our customers for complete platform offerings, delivered as a service,” said John Keagy, Co-Founder and CEO of GoGrid. “Our partnership with MuleSoft allows us to expand our lead in offering customers these compelling solutions based on popular platforms such as Apache Tomcat, and fully supported on our existing infrastructure. GoGrid customers will now be able to seamlessly deploy their existing Tomcat applications on Cloudcat, leveraging the full benefits of the GoGrid public cloud.”

With over 70% penetration in the enterprise datacenter, the open source Apache Tomcat has grown to become the world’s most widely used web application server due to its lightweight simplicity. While many organizations are turning to cloud computing as a way to expand their data center capacity, there are currently no supported virtual images of Tomcat available in the cloud for use by IT organizations. Until now, using Apache Tomcat in the cloud required manual installation and configuration of Tomcat, in addition to installation of other required software. Cloudcat is available directly from GoGrid as a supported GoGrid Partner GSI.

“Through our partnership with GoGrid, we’ve combined the best of open source and cloud computing to provide IT professionals with a convenient, cost-effective way to develop and deploy applications for Apache Tomcat,” said Chris Purpura, vice president of corporate and business development of MuleSoft. “Using Cloudcat via GoGrid’s cloud service allows administrators to take advantage of Tomcat’s lightweight simplicity, underpinned by GoGrid’s rock-solid infrastructure and enterprise support.”

The Cloudcat server image running within the GoGrid cloud includes a fully supported Apache Tomcat 6 server running on RedHat™ Enterprise Linux and is available for both 32 bit and 64 bit CPUs. For a limited time, the Cloudcat subscription will also include a full subscription to MuleSoft Tcat Server, providing enterprise management capabilities that allow operations to manage dozens or even hundreds of Tomcat servers running simultaneously inside the enterprise and on public clouds such as GoGrid.

Availability and pricing

Cloudcat GoGrid Edition is immediately available through GoGrid at http://exchange.gogrid.com/partnergsi/mulesoft-cloudcat. Monthly subscriptions and support for the Cloudcat GSI cost $29/month and include MuleSoft cloud support, as well as a full use subscription and support for Tcat Server. For more information, please visit www.mulesoft.com.

About MuleSoft

MuleSoft is the Web Middleware Company, providing enterprise-class software based on the world’s most popular open source application infrastructure products, Mule ESB and Apache Tomcat. With Mule ESB, Tcat Server and iBeans, MuleSoft brings an ideal combination of simplicity and power to today’s web applications. Its products boast more than 1.5 million downloads and over 2,000 production deployments by leading organizations such as Walmart.com, Nestlé, Honeywell and DHL, as well as 5 of the world’s top 10 banks. MuleSoft is headquartered in San Francisco with offices worldwide.

For more information: www.mulesoft.com, or email info@mulesoft.com. Follow us on Twitter: Mulejockey

About GoGrid

GoGrid is a leading Cloud Infrastructure Hosting provider that delivers true “Control in the Cloud™.” GoGrid enables sysadmins, developers, IT professionals and SaaS vendors to create, deploy, and control free f5 load balanced cloud & dedicated servers and complex hosted virtual server networks with full root access/administrative server control which includes personal server images (known as MyGSIs). GoGrid server instances maintain industry standard specifications with no requirement to learn and adapt to proprietary standards. Deploying GoGrid infrastructure takes minutes via a unique, award-winning web control panel or GoGrid’s API. GoGrid delivers portal controlled servers for Windows Server 2003/2008, SQL Server, and ASP.NET, as well as multiple Linux server operating systems like RHEL and CentOS. GoGrid gives users the control of a familiar datacenter environment with the flexibility and immediate scalability of the cloud, a “cloudcenter.” To learn more, visit www.gogrid.com.

More information on other GoGrid Partners can be found on the GoGrid Exchange.

Today we sent out the January 2010 GoGrid Customer Update to all GoGrid customers. We wanted to ensure that all people who are interested in GoGrid have access to the latest and greatest information coming from our headquarters so the full newsletter is posted below. If you want to get regular updates similar to this newsletter, I recommend that you subscribe to the GoGrid blog RSS feed, subscribe to blog post via email, follow us on Twitter (@GoGrid) as well as become a GoGrid Facebook Fanpage.

Below is the entire GoGrid Newsletter (January 2010):

Hello Michael,

On behalf of everyone here at GoGrid, I want to wish you a very successful 2010!  We are starting the year off with a bang that includes some exciting new developments that I want to share with you in this edition of the GoGrid Newsletter.  Here are the specific topics:

1. New Features and System Enhancements
2. GoGrid CDN: New Singapore and Paris Points of Presence (POPs)
3. New Partner GSIs
4. Preventative Power Maintenance
5. End-of-Life: CentOS 5.1 w/Apache &  RHEL 5.1 w/Apache operating systems
6. New CentOS 5.3 & RHEL 5.4 base operating systems
7. Two New 3rd Party Services to Monitor your GoGrid Servers
8. Hosting for Haiti

New Features and System Enhancements

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The next GoGrid software release is scheduled for Tuesday, February 9, 2010 and includes the following new features and system enhancements:
GoGrid Dedicated Server ordering, provisioning, and support via the portal

We will offer three dedicated server options via the GoGrid portal with pricing starting at only $200/month.  GoGrid Dedicated Servers use the GoGrid IP address space, support power cycling, and are visible in the new List View tab located in the GoGrid portal.  The dedicated servers can be load balanced, connected to cloud storage, and managed via the GoGrid UI, providing a unique solution that combines the flexibility of the cloud with the control of dedicated hardware.
GoGrid Dedicated Servers support the following operating systems: Ubuntu, RedHat Enterprise Linux, Fedora, Debian, CentOS, Windows 2003, and Windows 2008.  Dedicated server hardware configurations and pricing details will be available on the GoGrid wiki the day of the software release.

Edit Load Balancer API Support

The GoGrid API will allow you to add and remove an IP address from an existing load balancer. This means you can add or remove a virtual or dedicated server from an existing load balancer without downtime.  The feature is great for rapidly scaling web and app servers in real time.

List View Tab

The GoGrid portal will contain a new tab called List View. The List View tab displays virtual and dedicated servers, Cloud Storage, and load balancing details, including: host name, IP addresses, operating system type, and storage utilization, in list form.  The list view makes it easier to manage large server deployments using a single convenient view.

New Links

Three new links will be visible in the GoGrid portal.  The new links make accessing the GoGrid Wiki, Forums, and API tool easier.  The links are visible in the Support and My Account tabs.

New Feature Webinar
If you have questions about any of the new features, sign up for a live demo given by the GoGrid Product Team.
Click here to reserve your seat: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/725449257
Date: Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM PST

GoGrid CDN

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GoGrid CDN customers that deliver content to Asia and Europe will be happy to learn that we will soon roll out two new Points of Presence (POPs):
Singapore: Along with our POPs in Hong Kong and Tokyo, our new Singapore POP boosts our already high-speed delivery of rich media to and from Asia. This newly installed state-of-the-art hardware supports all of our services including live and on demand Windows Media and Flash (FMS3.5) streaming services, web site acceleration and our industry leading reporting and analytics suite. Activate your account today and discover why more and more leading Asian web properties such as Asian Golf TV, QQ, Pixnet and Ninja Saga all use the GoGrid CDN.
Paris: Already strong in Europe, GoGrid will soon be even stronger with the addition of yet another POP, this one in Paris, France. The new Parisian POP will support all of our whole site delivery services, full Windows Media, Flash (FMS 3.5), and Silverlight streaming services as well as our rock solid live streaming service. Contact us today and learn why top tier European companies have partnered with GoGrid CDN for their European and global content distribution needs.
The Singapore POP will roll out in a couple of weeks and the Paris POP will rollout out in a few months.  Please feel free to contact your Account Manager with any questions.

New Partner GSIs

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We have rolled out five new Partner GSIs.  A PartnerGSI is a publicly available MyGSI (GoGrid Server Image) with the partner’s software preinstalled and preconfigured. Many of our partners specialize in internet security, backup, monitoring, web apps, compliance, and application scaling.  Check out our new PartnerGSIs:

• Gigaspaces
• Mailsites
• CohesiveFT
• Tapin Systems
• Objectivity

Visit the GoGrid Exchange to learn more.

Preventative Power Maintenance

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There will be a preventive maintenance performed on UPS 1, 2, 3 and 4 on 2/01 and 2/02 2010
The maintenance schedule will be completed in 2 phases.

1. Monday February 1st  – Preventive maintenance performed on UPS 3 and 4. Each unit WILL be put into bypass
2. Tuesday February 2nd  – Preventive Maintenance of UPS 1 and 2. Each unit WILL be put into bypass

There is no downtime expected during this maintenance schedule.

When: February 1st 10:00am – 5:00pm and February 2nd 10:00am – 5:00pm
Why: UPS maintenance is required to continue to provide consistent, uninterrupted power to our customers

End-Of-Life Server Images

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The below Linux images will be End-of-Life’d effective 02/09/2010:

• CentOS 5.1 (64-bit) w/ Apache 2.2
• RHEL 5.1 (64-bit) w/ Apache 2.2

These images will no longer be available in the GoGrid portal for deployment once they are retired. We will continue to support all current Linux base operating systems. If you would like to use the EoL’d images after February 9th you will need to create your own GoGrid Server Image (using the myGSI feature) before February 9th. MyGSI allows you to keep server images in Cloud Storage for future use.  Additional Information about myGSIs can be found here:

• GoGrid Wiki MyGSI Entry

You can also find more information about this on this GoGrid Blog post which includes some Frequently Asked Questions about this process:

• GoGrid Image EOL Blog Post

New Base Operating Systems

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We recently rolled out two new Linux base operating systems which are live and available in the GoGrid portal:

• CentOS 5.3 (32- and 64-bit)
• RHEL 5.4  (32- and 64-bit)

Two New 3rd Party Services to Monitor Your GoGrid Servers

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Monitoring your GoGrid infrastructure is an important task that should not be overlooked. Our Technology Evangelist, Michael Sheehan, recently spent some time analyzing two new 3rd party services that can help you manage and monitor your infrastructure:
Server Density: Monitor CPU load, memory, processes, disk usage, network traffic, Apache, MySQL & Nginx. Keep an eye on your servers and get e-mail, SMS & iPhone alerts when things go wrong.
See the GoGrid blog post about Server Density’s service here:

• GoGrid Server Density Blog Post

CloudKick: Easily and efficiently monitor and manage cloud server environments with robust graphing, alert and other tools.
See the GoGrid blog post about CloudKick’s service here:

• GoGrid CloudKick Blog Post

Hosting for Haiti

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With the recent earthquake devastation that crippled the nation of Haiti a couple of weeks ago, the country is struggling to care for the injured, rebuild infrastructure and basically survive as a nation. There has been tremendous outpouring of support from around the world. To that end, GoGrid was among the initial group of internet hosting providers to announce support for Hosting For Haiti, a site where all of us hosting providers have put aside our differences in order to provide release for Haiti. We have made a significant donation to the American Red Cross and encourage you to help out in whatever way you see fit.
More information on Hosting For Haiti can be found at:

• http://www.hostingforhaiti.com

Further details are in this GoGrid blog post:

• GoGrid Hosting For Haiti Blog Post

Become a Fan of GoGrid on Facebook and Follow Us on Twitter

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If you have photos from an event where you saw GoGrid in action or met with some of our employees, we encourage you to post them to the Fan Page:

• http://www.facebook.com/GoGrid

We also actively monitor and send out messages via Twitter. You can follow GoGrid on Twitter at:

• http://twitter.com/GoGrid

As always, you can find more information about GoGrid at:

GoGrid Product Site – http://www.gogrid.com
GoGrid Blog – http://blog.gogrid.com
GoGrid Wiki – http://wiki.gogrid.com
GoGrid Forums – http://forums.gogrid.com

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me directly.

Thank you,
Mario

This email was sent out by our VP of Product, Mario Olivarez.

In an effort to be as proactive as possible, GoGrid has officially notified select customers of the removal (End of Life – EoL) of two specific GoGrid images. The users that were notified are ones that are actively using the images. On 2/9/10, GoGrid will be removing the following images from the GoGrid image repository:

• CentOS – CentOS 5.1 (64-bit) w/ Apache 2.2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux – RHEL 5.1 (64-bit) w/ Apache 2.2

I’m sure that some of you will have questions about this. In anticipation of this, I have compiled some quick Q&A’s:

Question: What does the removal of these images mean?

Answer: Simply that after the removal date, they will no longer appear within the GoGrid Image Selection widget.

Question: I have server(s) deployed that use these images? Will they continue to function?

Answer: Yes, there is no change to how your server(s) will function if they are using one of these EoL-ed images. Just be sure that you keep everything current within those servers.

Question: Will you continue to provide support for servers that are based on the EoL-ed images?

Answer: Yes, we will continue to support all Windows and Linux images that you have deployed using GoGrid, even ones that have been EoL-ed.

Question: But wait! I still want to use those particular images in my GoGrid infrastructure! What can I do?

Answer: If you want to use either of these images after February 9th, 2010, you will need to create a personal GoGrid Server Image (MyGSI) prior to that date. If you follow the process outlined in this blog post, you can be assured that you can deploy servers based on those EoL-ed image(s) after that date from your personal GoGrid repository.

Question: Since those images are being removed, what are replacing them?

Answer: As of the writing of this blog post, we have several CentOS and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) images available including the ones listed below and others will be added in the future:

• RHEL 5.4 (32-bit)
• RHEL 5.4 (64-bit)
• CentOS 5.3 (32-bit)
• CentOS 5.3 (64-bit)

The images below are a filtered set of images (filtered on OS and grouped by “GoGrid” owner) as of this writing (note that in the future, this set of available images WILL change):

Question: What if I have more questions about this? What can I do?

Answer: There are a couple of things you can do. First, be sure to read up on how to create, deploy and store MyGSIs. If you have further questions, you can contact GoGrid Support either via the Live Chat within the GoGrid Portal, or by logging a Support Ticket within the portal as well.

If you have further questions, feel free to contact me or leave a comment on this post. I hope that these proactive notifications are useful!

Today GoGrid officially launched a new micro-site called the GoGrid Exchange where users can view information about various Partner GSIs (GoGrid Server Images) available in the GoGrid cloud. Partner GSIs were developed to provide our partners with a means to share with or sell their custom MyGSIs (GoGrid Server Images) to interested users. These Partner GSIs come complete with pre-installed and pre-configured software or application stacks, specialized in a variety of expertise including:

• Internet Security
• Backup
• Monitoring
• Web Applications
• Compliance
• Application Scaling
• and MORE!

As more partners come on board at GoGrid, more specialized images will be added to the Partner GSI repository. Many are live now!

The GoGrid Exchange

The GoGrid Exchange was created to provide a community center where users could read about and rate the various Partner GSIs available on GoGrid. By using a PartnerGSI, you can dramatically reduce your time to market launching new software or service offerings or ensuring that your offering is robust and resilient.

The GoGrid Exchange is broken out into several sections:

• Exchange Home – the entry point of the Exchange which contains Featured Images as well as a Category drill-down
• Partner Server Images – a multi-page listing of current Partner GSIs available on GoGrid
• Exchange Partners – a listing of the current partners who have Partner GSIs available. You can drill down to more details on the company as well as view the images they have available.
• About the GoGrid Exchange – more information about the Exchange as well as how to join it
• Become a Partner – if you are interested becoming a partner, fill out the form on this page

The Exchange lists out various Featured Images which include a brief description of the software, application or service provided within the specific image. Images are also listed by Category:

These categories will grow over time to include many more Application or Service types.

You can get more information about any particular Partner by visiting the Exchange Partners section or Partner GSI by clicking on the More Info link within each Partner GSI blurb. For example, shown below is the BitNami Partner information page:

And drilling down a bit further, you can see the BitNami WordPress GSI (which I have actually used):

The Partner GSI give a Description of the Application or Service, Technical Notes, any Monthly Cost associated with using the image, More Information links and an Average Rating. Ratings are created by the end-users of the images. For example, I logged the following rating of the BitNami WordPress Stack:

To enter a review, simply fill out a short form and click on the stars to provide a rating:

We will continue to add content to this micro-site as partners or new images arrive. If you are interested in becoming a GoGrid partner, please visit the About the GoGrid Exchange page and fill out the form on the Become a Partner page. Please take some time to review it, and if you have used a particular image, be sure to write a review. If there is any additional content that you would like to see with the GoGrid Exchange, please leave a comment on this post. We hope you find it useful and informative!